Deadly day in Gaza as Israeli offensive widens

Diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas intensified Monday as the two sides counted their dead following the bloodiest day of fighting so far in the two-week campaign.

GAZA CITY — At least 65 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers were killed Sunday in a major battle in a crowded Gaza City neighborhood on what has been the single bloodiest day of the nearly 2-week-old conflict, Israeli and Gazan officials confirmed.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon called Israel's latest incursion "atrocious," and said it must do far more to protect civilians. The U.N. Security Council was in an emergency session Sunday night at the request of Jordan on the situation in Gaza.

Hamas' military wing claimed late Sunday that it captured and was holding hostage an Israeli soldier. Israel denied it.

In Shijaiyah, a neighborhood of Gaza City, Israel continued to demolish shafts and tunnels in expanded operations that began early Sunday morning.

Hundreds were wounded and thousands forced to flee Shijaiyah as dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed by the fighting, which included heavy Israeli tank fire. The battle was the deadliest so far since Israel started its ground offensive late Thursday night.

Residents of the area described chaos as thousands tried to flee the area.

"What happened in Shijaiyah quarter was madness," said Majed Reda, 48, from the district. "Oh God, me and my family cannot believe that we are still alive due to the heavy random tank shelling that lasted for over 12 hours … it's a horrific massacre … shells just rained down."

Around the district was evidence of destruction in the rubble and smoke. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said Hamas militants put up a "huge" level of resistance in the neighborhood, using anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons fired from houses and buildings. The Israeli military said 8% of the more than 1,700 rockets fired from Gaza since July 8 were from the neighborhood, a claim unable to be independently verified.

Two of the 13 Israeli soldiers killed Sunday were dual U.S.-Israel nationals, the Times of Israel reported.

One of them was identified as Sean Carmeli of South Padre Island, Texas, Chabad.org reported.

Max Steinberg, a Los Angeles native and volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces, also was among the soldiers killed, JewishJournal.com reported. Steinberg, from the Woodland Hills section of the San Fernando Valley, was a sniper in Golani and joined Israeli forces in December 2012, it said.

The deaths bring the total number of Israeli military casualties to 18. Two civilians have also been killed by attacks in Israel while at least 432 Palestinians have been killed and another 3,000 wounded since the conflict began nearly two weeks ago, according to Gaza Health Ministry officials.

In this latest offensive, Lerner said, 10 tunnel-access shafts had been found in the area so far. Israel says the tunnels are used by Hamas to carry out attacks unlike tunnels on the border with Egypt — now closed — which Gazans use to bring in essential supplies such as food and fuel.

Kerry told CNN that Israel is justified in taking action to protect itself from attacks launched from Gaza but added that the civilian impact of the conflict is unsettling.

"Nobody, no human being can be comfortable with children being killed, but we're not comfortable with Israeli soldiers being killed either," he said Sunday.

Netanyahu, also speaking on CNN, said the military is only targeting militants in its campaign.

"All civilian casualties are unintended by us, but intended by Hamas. They want to pile up as many civilian dead as they can … it's gruesome," Netanyahu said. "They use telegenically dead Palestinians for their cause."

But witnesses in Gaza disputed that, saying emergency vehicles were unable to reach the wounded.

"Even ambulances came under fire and were targeted by Israeli tanks shelling," said Samer Hayyah, 38, of east Gaza. "Many members of my family were injured or killed while others are still under the rubble."

"My home and many of my neighbors' homes were destroyed in the shelling," he added. "It was very sad and painful to see people leaving their homes carrying whatever they could."

The situation in Gaza is growing worse — 70% of the territory was without power Sunday. Residents say they want peace.

"Daily power cuts worsen the already dire situation," said Nafiz Hamed, 30, of Gaza City. "Ultimately there will be a cease-fire (and as part of that), we want the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing to open permanently, so that all goods can come in. We want to build our future and (fulfill) our dreams."

An Egyptian-brokered cease-fire was rejected by Hamas last week after the group said it was not consulted over the truce. Egypt's new government is hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood of its last president Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted last year, and by extension to its counterpart in Gaza, Hamas said.

Hamas also said any cease-fire agreement must include a lifting of the blockade by Israel and the opening of the borders with Egypt.

"The Egyptian leadership should stand by us (but) how can they be honest brokers for a cease-fire when they close the Rafah crossing?" Hamed asked.

Shortages and frequent shelling have taken their toll on locals. At the same time, residents add any truce must be meaningful.

"Of course we want truce, we want to live in peace, not violence but you tell me how is that possible while we are under Israeli-Egyptian siege," said Yusra Mohammad, 26, of Gaza City. "Israel must know that we will not accept the policy of collective punishment."

Palestinians celebrate the announcement of a cease-fire on Aug. 26 in Gaza City. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire proposal to end seven weeks of fighting between Israel and militant groups in the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Mohammed Saber, European Pressphoto Agency)

A worker removes debris from the Cohen family bedroom after a missile fired by militants in the Gaza Strip made a direct hit in their home in Ashkelon, Israel. (Photo: Abir Sultan, European Pressphoto Agency)

A Palestinian boy walks across the rubble of a house belonging to the al-Dakhani family after an Israeli airstrike on the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip. Two people were wounded in the attack. (Photo: Eyad Baba, AP)

A man looks out the window of a damaged classroom after a rocket, fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, landed in the courtyard of a kindergarten in Ashdod, Israel. (Photo: Jack Guez, AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian man sweeps the floor of his home that was damaged after a mosque across the street was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. (Photo: Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian woman watches from a hole in a home belonging to Hamas financial official Mohammed al-Ghul after it was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. One of several targeted airstrikes by Israeli forces killed Al-Ghul in his vehicle. (Photo: Mohammed Abed, AFP/Getty Images)

Relatives and close family friends of Daniel Turgeman touch his coffin during the boy's funeral on Aug. 24 in Yevul, Israel. Turgeman, 4, was killed in a mortar attack fired by Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip on Aug. 22. (Photo: Jim Hollander, European Pressphoto Agency)

An Israeli firefighter extinguishes a fire after rockets fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip hit a field near the southern Israeli city of Sderot. (Photo: Menahem Kahana, AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinians carry the body of the wife of Mohammed Deif, Israel's most-wanted man, at the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. According to media reports, Deif's wife and son were killed Aug. 20 in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City. Israel holds Deif, the leader of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, accountable for directing the Gaza conflict from underground. (Photo: Mohammed Saber, European Pressphoto Agency)

Israeli soldiers in an undisclosed southern Israeli location take cover inside a cement pipe near the border with the Gaza Strip as a 'red alert' sounds, signaling that Palestinian militants have fired a rocket toward the area. The Israeli army reported that Palestinians shot about 180 rockets and mortars since the collapse of the cease-fire, with scores of Israeli strikes inside the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Avi Roccah, European Pressphoto Agency)

Palestinians grieve over the death of Widad Mustafa Deif, 27, and her 8-month-old son, Ali Mohammed Deif, during their funeral in Jabaliya refugee camp. They were killed by an Israeli strike Aug. 20. (Photo: Khalil Hamra, AP)

A Palestinian boy spots two Israeli drones in the late afternoon Aug. 19. Palestinians fled their homes in neighborhoods of eastern Gaza City carrying bags of clothes, pillows and mattresses after renewed Israeli airstrikes, witnesses said. Nine days of relative quiet in the skies over Gaza came to an abrupt halt when rockets struck Israel just hours before the truce was to expire at midnight local time. Israel immediately ordered a military response, with warplanes striking targets across the coastal strip. (Photo: Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images)

A rocket fired by Palestinian militants inside the Gaza Strip rises into the night sky. More than 50 rockets were fired toward Israeli civilian centers from Gaza on Aug. 19, shattering the 24-hour cease-fire, and Israel responded with multiple air force attacks on Gaza, with deaths and many casualties reported. (Photo: Avi Roccah, European Pressphoto Agency)

Palestinian rescuers clear the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. The Israeli airstrike killed a young girl and a woman, wounding 16 other people. (Photo: Mohammed Abed, AFP/Getty Images)

An Egyptian soldier stands guard on the Egyptian side of the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Aug. 13, overlooking the damage in Rafah caused by a month of fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas militants. (Photo: Said Khatib, AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Zakariah al-Aqrah, 21, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Qabalan. The Israeli military said it killed al-Aqrah early Monday morning after he opened fire on an Israeli force that had come to arrest him in connection with shootings targeting Israeli soldiers two weeks ago. (Photo: Majdi Mohammed, AP)

A Palestinian man standing in a crowd of onlookers reacts to watching a soap factory go up in flames moments after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Aug, 10. (Photo: Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images)

Israel and Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that governs the Gaza Strip, have fought at least 10 wars and skirmishes in the past decade. The latest round of Gaza fighting began July 8 and with the collapse of truce talks in Cairo, there's risk of protracted fighting. A look at events since the collapse of the talks on August 19.